“It’s On Both Of Them”

And today, former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht went on a long rant on WDAE-AM 620 about how miscommunication is not an excuse in December after all the work Freeman has put in with Vincent Jackson and other receivers this year.

Becht described work he put in with numerous quarterbacks in his long career — and with more complex playbooks than Mike Sullivan’s — and offered that Freeman’s attention to detail and work ethic along with his receivers’ may not be as good as advertised.

“If I’m going to point a finger at a receiver, well, maybe I didn’t do enough during the week to make sure we’re on the same page. He’s the chief,” Becht said of Freeman.

“It’s on both of them,” Bechts said, referring to Freeman and receivers. “You gotta put in the time the night before.”

Dave Moore joined Becht, his former teammate, on the air and Moore said he couldn’t say whether Freeman and his receivers are putting in the work the night before a game and taking their film study to extreme levels that he used to with Becht meeting Chucky’s demands.

In what might give Bucs fans hope, Moore said Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, a guy Moore worked with when he played for the Buffalo Bills, had similar communication issues early on in Eli Manning’s career.

23 Responses to ““It’s On Both Of Them””

I once saw a video once where a QB and a receiver completed about 10 different plays where the QB simply glanced at his WR. He made no signals and didn’t say a word. The QB said that he and the receiver were simply on the same page and could communicate through eye contact.

I noticed that at first, Peyton Manning and his receivers were not communicating 100%. Now when Peyton reads a blitz, he simply glances at the receiver where the blitz is coming from. That receiver cancels his route and simply turns towards Manning, who quickly turns and hits his wide open man. The Broncos are almost unbeatable now.

As angry and disappointed as I am about the game yesterday; we need to take a long look at the starting lineup to see where the real problems lie. The Bucs have a pre season roster trying to play against the best the NFL has to offer. Now all teams have injuries, but no team is playing with the amount of players off the street that the Bucs are. I’m a huge fan, but there are so many players on the field that I’ve never even heard of. If they can show up the next two games the season will still be semi successful.

@ATLBucsFan – That’s an excellent point. Esiason got roasted here for those comments, but Freeman is playing as if Esiason was right.

Of course, it’s easy to say something generic like “lacks preparation” to explain losing, so I won’t give Esiason insight just yet, but something is amiss in the passing game, and QB preparation and leadership needs to be questioned.

To me, Freeman doesn’t have the deer-in-the-headlights look anymore. To me it looks like he is amped up and ready to go, and that is the problem. He is so ready to go, he forgets to take a deep breath and play football. To me, it looks like he is consistently overthrowing he receivers, which is not a communication problem, but rather a over-intensity problem. Most of the balls are to where the receivers are headed, the football just gets there before they do. I think it would start to click again if Freeman just slows it down. It may be that the “high” of the 4-game win streak boosted his confidence, and then the close losses to Denver and Atlanta put into his head the thought “that I have to try a little bit harder.” As much as that seems it will solve everything, it only makes it worse. So take a deep breath Josh.

I read somewhere not to long ago that their is a possibility that the KC Chiefs could have an interest in Freeman and he played college in that area so the Bucs should at the least test to see if the Chiefs or anyone else may want to try their luck with Freeman….

I would not be surprised if it plays out like it has for other mediocre QBs in the past and few teams if any want him…

Make an attempt for 2013 to be a year for people to be proud to be a Bucs fan again… Get a Qb that has actually had success in the pros or at least in college….. Getting a mediocre college QB like Freeman and him becoming successful in the pros is rare…. “NEXT!”

I just hope that the Glazers think long and hard before giving this mental midget a new contract and making him our franchise QB for many years to come. Cause I’ll tell you right now if this is how it’s going to look with him as our QB, RJS will be empty for a long time to come.

I look at the performances of other QBs in the league, and i try to place Freeman among them and who i would rather have as qb for the next 6 years. When I answer that question, Freeman, despite his current inconsistancy, ranks very high, and it is not because he is the qb most familiar with the system or some jibberish like that. It is because he offers a type of offense that is seemingly unstoppably high-powered, more so that pretty much any qb, when it is run properly. I would be saddened if the bucs were to switch to a peyton/brees dink and dunk style. that is 7-10 yard throw after throw.

The Bucs without some serious defensive breakdowns this season would be easily in the playoffs at this point. The Bucs, for the most part fixed the offense this past offseason. I expect they will fix the defense in the upcoming months, and 2013 will be a playoff year. 2014 and beyond and the Bucs will be an elite team. They just have to stay on plan.

I would not advocate getting rid of Freeman. Let’s remember that Eli was lousy for the 1st three years of his career. I know Josh has already passed that window of TIME but has he passed it in terms of experience in a single system and coaching consistency? Don’t think so. I’m in favor of keeping Josh and working on his footwork, awareness, arm strength, accuracy, etc. Let’s not forget that time in the pocket is important to completing passes. (That’s why it’s stupid to rush Brees with 2 or 3 down linemen!!!) I’m hoping for a healthy Joseph and Nick all next year to assess if Freeman should be moved.

That one pass where Free threw the ball 2 yards over Martins head when he was no more than 4 yards away from him and as open as you’ll ever be in the NFL is my breaking point. I’ve never seen a Pro QB miss that throw before. Ever. Dont think I’ve seen it in College either. There is just no excuse for that. Thats not even an accuracy problem. To be honest I’m not sure what problem that is but something is very wrong with Josh.

Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Josh Freeman threw 5 touchdown passes while the Chiefs rolled up 210 rushing yards and the defense held the Green Bay Packers’ offense to 250 yards in a 38-21 victory. Freeman joins Doug Williams, Steve Young and Trent Dilfer to become the fourth former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback to win a Super Bowl …